Wattstax

Wattstax was a music festival held on August 20, 1972 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum .

The festival was organized by the music company Stax Records to commemorate the unrest in the Watts district seven years earlier. The name is a reference to the Woodstock Festival . Wattstax, at which, in addition to concerts by the stars of Stax Records, speeches by civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, among others, could be heard, attracted over 100,000 mostly African-American viewers. Several albums with the music of the festival as well as a film have been released. The documentary received a 1974 Golden Globe nomination for best documentary.

Artists and groups

The Staple Singers (with Mavis Staples as the singer) Eddie Floyd The Emotions Carla Thomas Rufus Thomas The Bar-Kays Albert King

The Soul Children Isaac Hayes The Rance Allen Group Johnnie Taylor Little Milton Luther Ingram

Movie

• Wattstax . Concert film, USA, 1973, 99 min., Written and directed by Mel Stuart , release date: February 15, 1973, summary by arte, ( memento from April 18, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ).

various

The festival took place on the 30th birthday of Isaac Hayes , whose one-hour performance formed the end.

Web links

• wattstax.com ( Memento of January 10, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) | Wattstax - The Special Edition ( Memento from October 23, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) (English, archived)
• Wattstax, Again. In: National Review , June 6, 2003 (English)
• 'Black Woodstock' documentary to have broadcast premiere on PBS. In: Associated Press , September 3, 2004, (English)
• Wattstax Festival: The greatest dance performance of all time. In: FAZ , June 17, 2008